Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am aware of the ongoing work by Beet Ireland and the negotiations that have been taking place with the owners of the Lisheen Mine site. It is a very exciting project which I would love to see happen. My role as a Minister is to facilitate an end to sugar quotas as soon as possible or, if there is an extension of quotas beyond 2017, to ensure Ireland is allocated a quota to permit the production of sugar to recommence. It is up to commercial operators and organisations such as Beet Ireland to put business plans together to make this work commercially. We must not forget that we will be competing with parts of Europe which already have the infrastructure in place to produce sugar very competitively. We will have to spend approximately €300 million to put a plant together. That is expensive and will involve loans that must be repaid.

As long as the international price of sugar remains strong - above €500 per tonne - the feasibility studies from Beet Ireland and others suggest that proposals for sugar production in Ireland are credible. If we can make this project happen, it would be fantastic from a farming, industry, employment and stimulus perspective in Tipperary. We must ensure the numbers add up. The last thing we want is to invest heavily only to find that we are not competitive with other parts of Europe. I consider the project to be doable and will do everything I can to ensure we end sugar quotas in the European Union as soon as possible to allow it to get off the ground if the commercial case can be made, which I believe it can.

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